Come With Me
by StardustToRememberYouBy
Summary: "I forced myself to tear my eyes away from the boy - I wasn't even sure if he had even seen that I was staring at him, all tightly stuffed into a form-fitting blue t-shirt... who is this boy?" Gabe/OC. Rating for mature content, including drug usage/content, sexual situations, language, and general just NTNness.
1. Chapter 1

_Fuck. I should lay off the vicodin_...

Such were my early morning thoughts before school...and during school...and after school. It was a terrible habit to admit to, but, hey, if that shit was willing to help me function during the forced tradition of attending school every day. Day in and day out, all I could think of was how I just couldn't wait to get out of there, couldn't wait to be on my own and start life anew.

If there was something I truly hated, it was monotomy.

I learned some years ago that the theme song of my generation was Relient K's song Maintain Consciousness, and I stick by it.

Anyway, back to school. Back to simplicity.

I could not have been more thankful to hear the voice of really the only person who still talked to me in that God-forsaken shithole: Natalie Goodman.

She had this almost Disney princess quality to her voice, and the second I heard it, I didn't feel alone anymore, so I bee-lined for her as she stood against her locker.

"Hey," she said when I approached her, and I didn't reflect her terminology. It was too damn early and I was too damn uninterested in returning her usual banter. "You look edgy - are you - "

"I only took one this morning," I admitted, and that, for once, was the truth. Normally I'd take two...or more if I just wished to forget a day. "We still on for tonight?"

Natalie nodded. "Still having trouble?"

"I'm terrible with numbers, Nat. You know that better than anyone."

Natalie gave me a sad kind of half-smile that kind of made me want to crawl into a corner and never come back out. "I'll get you caught up - don't worry." She reached out and awkwardly patted my shoulder, and I gave her hand a squeeze.

Natalie's mother had just left them a couple of days prior and I knew she was suffering in a way that she would never admit to anyone, even if it was literally burning her from the inside out. _Welcome to my life, Nat. It sucks_.

Natalie and I only shared a few classes - the ones we didn't were her extra music studies classes, wherein she'd have the entire practice room and a piano to herself. She was so gifted and with her early admission to Yale, I couldn't have been more jealous. I still had yet to think of a major, but I definitely wanted to get the hell out of dodge, get as far away from there as possible.

School was terrible that day. For most of the day, the vicodin kept me from focusing on a class entirely and I couldn't tell you afterward about the square roots of the human skeleton, about the force of mass being equal to undercooked pinkish green hot dogs for lunch...or whatever happened that day.

About the time the last bell rang, I could feel the effects of my drug wearing off. It was an almost ominously horrifying feeling, like when you're walking up the stairs and miscount, thinking that there's one more stair and there's this terrible feeling of falling and then...there's nothing. No sound. No feeling. No emotion. Just...me.

I couldn't wait to book my backside out of that school and walk all the way over to the Goodmans' home. I wasn't used to walking such great distances - ten blocks, but really - but anything and everything was drawing me to their home.

I had never before physically visited their home before, but even the idea of it was enough to give me a feeling that even vicodin couldn't compare to. Any time Natalie even mentioned their home, it was all I could do to keep her talking about it. Looking back on it, I would be greatly surprised by the reasons for my being drawn to their home...but we'll get to that later.

I rang the doorbell and Natalie answered - she had been home for God knew how long. She always took the bus home and I had walked there, so, naturally, she beat me to it.

"We've got food," were the first words out of her mouth, and good thing, too, because I had skipped breakfast - as always - and then almost vomited at the sight of the awful things the school cooks passed off as "hot dogs".

"I'm more thirsty," I commented as I followed her into the door. "Got any pop?"

"There are Cokes in the fridge." I followed her into the kitchen, watching as she placed her backpack onto the table.

"I wouldn't count on it - I live here, too, you know," a voice said from the corner and I felt an uneasy chill sweep across my flesh. I hadn't seen the person in the corner until a voice came from that direction.

My eyes shifted over to the corner and I felt my stomach leap into my throat. There stood a young man - tall, lean, built, and who had a dashingly brilliant smile, features so handsome they struck me to the bone, and the best haircut I had ever seen. In short, the boy in the corner was drop-dead _gorgeous_.

I smiled at his words softly, tucking my hair behind my ears. "You drink all the Coke?" I asked him, being a bit more sociable than I had intended as I opened the fridge and grabbed a can.

"I don't like pop," Natalie said with a roll of her eyes, and I jumped at her voice. I hadn't expected her to speak - I had been speaking to the boy in the corner.

"Rude, Nattie," the boy said with a 'tsk' of his tongue and a light shake of his head. "You're not setting a good example for your guest. By the way, who _is_ this guest?"

I forced myself to tear my eyes away from the boy - I wasn't even sure if he had even seen that I was staring at him, all tightly stuffed into a form-fitting blue t-shirt... _who is this boy?_

Natalie had already begun pouring herself over her homework, and I admired her work ethic. She was such an educational inspiration and I could feel the veins in my head pounding as I opened the Coke, took a swig, and sat down at the table with her.

"Nattie, you're not answering my question..." The boy's voice was taunting, haunting, and almost seemed to coo. I had never heard such a voice.

"What do you want to work on first?" Natalie asked, apparently ignoring the boy I wanted to get to know better.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" I asked.

"To who? My dad?"

I shook my head, looking into the corner - the boy was gone. Looking around the kitchen, I could see him sitting on the edge of the counter staring at us or, more specifically, at _me_. "No, the boy you've been ignoring since I walked in the door."

Natalie sat there in her chair, a stunned silence filling the space between us as her eyes bugged and her spine straightened. I glanced over at the boy on the counter, whose face was also reflecting a shock that induced an awkward, palpable silence.

"The boy...?" she said after a moment, and her voice was small. "You're...you can _see_ him?"

"You can...see me?" the boy said, and the two were sounding like they were singing the rounds we sang in choir in the fifth grade.

I smiled, trying to laugh and shrug off the shudders my spine was experiencing for reasons still unknown to me. "Come off it, Natalie."

"You're telling me you can see him?" Natalie repeated in a stronger more firm tone.

"Why is it such a big deal?"

"It's my brother."

"Your brother...the one that died?"

"Some introduction," the boy said from right behind me, and I shifted uneasily in my chair.

Natalie nodded, her eyes fixated on my face.

"You're telling me _you_ don't see him and he's your own brother?"

Natalie shook her head, her eyes finally dislocating from my gaze. "I've...I've only ever felt his presence - never seen him." Natalie grew silent and I said nothing more as she poured herself quickly over her homework, her fingers working overtime to try and erase what just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

In that instant, all I wanted was to take back what I'd said, go back a few moments and make the decision to keep my stupid mouth closed. This was the exact opposite of what Natalie needed at that moment, and I was so pissed off that maybe I had just ruined her day.

The silence alone told me that maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

Maybe I should cease to exist.

Maybe...

"Don't be bothered by her," the billowy voice of the boy cooed from behind me. "She's been like this since she laid off the drugs." I could feel some kind of pressure on the back of the chair just behind my shoulders - were those his hands I could feel? So wait...I could see _and_ feel this boy? The fuck?

I was wise enough this time around not to say anything, even though I didn't want the boy to think I was being rude and ignoring. I merely nodded my head slightly.

"Listen, Nat, I - " I started to say when she looked up at me sharply and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have just ignored you or cut you off or just acted like a bitch in general. You didn't deserve it. It's not your fault you can see my brother." She tapped the eraser end of her pencil against her calculus book and chewed on her bottom lip - _shit, now you've got her thinking. A thinking Goodman is a deadly Goodman_. "Can you see other ghosts?"

I thought back, remembering how cold and haunted my house felt after the emptiness that my mother had left behind when she'd died in her sleep in the bathtub. "No...this would be my first." In hindsight, that was only a half-lie. I had never _seen_ a ghost before - true. I had _felt_ ghosts before though...almost everywhere I went and it scared the shit out of me that now I had a face to put to the feelings.

Natalie nodded, appearing to be somewhat comforted by my words.

"I call bullshit," the boy said and I could feel him tapping a finger against my shoulder as if taunting me. How the hell did he know I was lying?

"Okay, okay," Natalie said, sighing slightly. "Let's get to work then." And our homework ensued. By the time her session with me was finished, I did understand where this was going. _Who the fuck are you kidding? You still don't know shit_.

"Thanks, Nat," I said, forming a smile on my face as I covered up yet another lie. "That really helped."

"You're doing it again..." Now the boy was tormenting me and I could still feel the chills shaking my spine.

"You're welcome," she said, getting up from the table. "He's still in here, isn't he?"

"Present!" he shouted from behind me and I jumped before nodding.

"He's here," I answered, telling the truth for the first time in a while.

"I'll, uh, leave you two to get acquainted then." And then she was gone from the room.

_Oh, shit_.

"Well, well, well, look whose pants have struck conflagration," he teased as I turned to face him.

"Big words for someone who's supposed to be dead," I commented, perhaps a bit too harshly. He didn't seem to mind.

"When you've been dead as long as I have and you live around _this_ family, you pick up a few things."

"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to be so rude to you like that. It's not my place to say things like that - "

"First you're abrasive, then you are beside yourself with apologies?" He smiled, seemingly alright with all of this. "Who _are_ you, stranger girl?"

"A friend, I should think. I can see you, feel your air, I can hear you fake-breathing - "

"Who says I'm _not_ breathing for _real_?" This caused a new sensation of feelings to spread across my flesh. "Who says I'm not breathing whatever 'air' is on _my_ side of life?"

_Touche_. "Whatever it is, it's like you're alive in front of me. How do you do that?"

"Call it a gift."

"Not a curse?"

"All death is a curse."

_God, he's smart. Must run in the family then_. "Has anyone else been able to see you before?"

"My mom." His face grew dark, and I vowed never to say anything that would cause whatever pained look that face was drawn from happen again. "When she left - "

"It's okay. You don't need to talk about it."

He smirked a kind of serial killer smirk that made me want to die in a hole alone. "You fascinate me..." He was circling me like a shark about to attack its prey, his eyes studying me like I was on display for his eyes only and given the fact that the weight of his stare stuck my feet to the floor, I'd say I was. "You're different..."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You make me sad, troubled girl. You should come here more often."

"Why? So you can tease me some more?"

"Who knows? You may grow to _love_ it."

"Fat chance."

He scoffed. "We'll see."

I felt his ghostly fingertips lift a lock of my hair and gently I pushed his hand away. _Too much, too soon_. _Fuck all...he's a dead boy!_

"What's your name?"

Hadn't I mentioned this? Thinking back, I guess we skipped it.

"Laine," I said gently, almost under my breath, but he heard me.

"Laine..." The way his tongue caressed each letter of my name made me want to..._fuck that_. "Lovely name."

"And you are, ghost boy?" I said, finally able to make eye contact with him again. "You never mentioned yours."

"Call me Gabe."

I nodded. I would call him Gabe. I liked that name anyway. "I should probably go - I think I've definitely overstayed my welcome."

"You'll be back, right?" Gabe had stepped closer to me, so close I could feel the hairs on my arms stick straight up and I could feel the heat of his gaze.

I shrugged. At this point, I wasn't sure that Natalie would _want _me back after what happened, even though I would definitely like to see Gabe again - perhaps I could help all of them out in some way, maybe even myself. "I don't know, Gabe. Depends."

I forced myself away from him, feeling my hands shake as I grabbed my books and headed for the front door, knowing the whole time that he was following me. "Don't think that you're crazy, Laine. You're not. I'm here. I'm _alive_."

By the sound of his voice, I knew he truly believed that. I shut the door behind me and headed down the street, the physical pull towards their home now taking a turn for the worse.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** WOWZERS. I've gotten some incredibly positive feedback on this story so far, so a HUGE thank you to all who have contributed to that! I hope the pacing of this story is alright. As always, reviews are MUCH-APPRECIATED. Enjoy, lovelies.3

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_"Where the hell have you been? Why didn't you call? We didn't get you a cell phone for nothing, missy. Have you been seeing some boy? Is that why you've been so distracted lately? Don't you give me that look - roll your eyes one more time, and I swear to God... Lainey, we love you. We're just here to help you. Please don't shut us out."_

And slam went my bedroom door. In all likelihood, my mother probably didn't say half of what I could've sworn she said. Then again, everything she said to me was remniscient of something she'd said the previous day and repeatedly on an almost daily basis since I turned twelve, but today she may have kept her mouth shut and I would have no way of knowing. They ignore me, I return the favor. It's that simple, and parents just don't seem to get the memo.

I flopped backwards onto my bed and stared at my Ramones poster on the ceiling. In all honesty, I didn't listen to The Ramones - never had. I thought the poster looked cool. I don't think that makes me weird. More teenagers do that than I'm willing to admit.

_Rrrrrrring_ went the home phone and I could hear Mom screaming on the other end inside of a moment, which meant one thing: Dad was calling.

My parents' relationship had always been on the rocks. I couldn't recall a time when they hadn't argued over something, even over who left the shower curtain open in the morning.

They were part of the reason for my vicodin usage.

The other part...well, that was just _me_.

On this day, I had no desire whatsoever to pop any pills, and I knew that was because of one person: Gabe Goodman. The dead boy.

_Don't you mean the super attractive, enticing homme fatale you're feeling a gravitational pull towards even now?_

I rolled my eyes at my own subconscious, even though I knew it was right - something about Gabe was drawing me to him, drawing me back to their house. The only place in the world I wanted to be was at the Goodmans' home, and I knew it wasn't because of Natalie.

What the fuck was happening?

This boy had been dead for sixteen years, and all I wanted to do was go back there, talk to him, touch him, feel his lips on mine. I had never felt this way about a living soul, so the fact that I was feeling this for the first time about a deceased human being left my life par for the course.

I didn't eat dinner that night. What happened at the Goodmans' left my mind in a maelstrom of feelings, emotions I didn't even know I was capable of feeling, and all of it resulted in my feelings of queasiness for the rest of the night.

The next day at school, I hardly spoke a word to Natalie except to acknowledge her comment that I was looking paler than usual, which is really saying something - my skin is comparable to porcelain.

For the next five days straight I avoided my only friend and barely ate, struggling with the physical torment, the want to be back inside of their home. My stomach twisted into the tightest knots it could, my head spun with the unseen yearning, my heart ached, my joints were numb, my skin was as cold as ice. After one visit, I found myself wanting to move in, and even for a psychopath like me, that is a strange happenstance indeed.

"Laine, I'm really worried about you," I heard Natalie say upon feeling the final straw break. "You look like complete shit, and don't tell me it's vicodin - I know you haven't taken one in days. What the fuck is happening to you?"

Truth. That's what it would take. I couldn't stand any of this anymore. She had to know the truth - maybe then I could stop feeling so sickly, finally gain some sense of myself back. So I spilled my guts. I told her everything I had been feeling since my first visit to her home, of the pull I felt. I told her that the last time I'd felt like myself had been that day and I'd been anti-Laine since that day. Natalie listened with an attuned sense of urgency, as though my life depended on her open ears and willingness to listen. Other than the occasional blink and slow, intermittent nods of her head as I spoke, I could've sworn she'd been in a daze.

"Wow," was all she could say at first after I'd finished. This was followed by a hollow pause on her end and I knew she was processing all of the information I had just poured onto her.

"I don't mean to unload myself on you, Nat," I admitted, taking a sip of the apple juice - it tasted like ashes.

"No, no, not at all - you didn't unload on me." Her words were rapid-fire and she tucked her hair behind her ears before reaching across the lunch table and taking one of my hands into her thin fingers. "You're my friend, Laine. I'm trying to understand what's happening to you is all."

"If you figure it out, let me know, will you?"

She smirked, but I was serious. I had no idea what was going on or what would happen as a result. "Promptly. There _is_ something you should know though..." _Uh-oh_. "Since you left that day, my brother has tried to make his presence more known. He's been messing up bits of the house like he's trying to get our attention, and that didn't happen before your visit. I'm thinking that he took to you - that he likes you - and wants you to come around again."

She was talking about her brother as though he wasn't dead, merely on house arrest. Gabe wanted me to come back that badly? Why? We'd only spoken one time...

"You think so?" I asked feebly, pulling my tube of Blistex out of my pocket and placing some onto my lips - suddenly I was feeling more inadequate than usual.

Natalie nodded. "I can't see him, but it's clear to me - and to Dad since he's noticed, too - that he's upset. I think a visit from you would mean a lot to him. Wanna drop by today?"

_YES!_ Inside, I was screaming - every inch of me wanted to go back there - but I had to maintain some sort of normalcy.

I nodded. "I think that'd be best." _Of course you think so, you slippery fiend._

I went to the Goodmans' straight after school. _Do not pass go, do NOT collect two hundred dollars. There's an attractive dead boy waiting for you to show up_.

Once I set foot into their house, Natalie swiftly disappeared up the stairs and all of my ugliness, all of the terrible feelings of heaviness suddenly disappeared without a trace as though they hadn't happened in the first place. I felt the anvil drop from my shoulders, the blackout curtains lifted from my eyes.

"Welcome back, stranger girl," the airy voice of a grounded angel cooed from behind me, and the chills down my back gave me a thrill.

"Gabe..." I breathed on an exhale, sounding more turned on than I had intended. I turned around to see him coming towards me. The way his t-shirt clung to his corners and the sight of his jeans pulled around his edges made my heart race within my chest. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Don't you mean the 'figure' you wanted to see?" He was teasing, but I didn't mind. _He said you would grow to love him teasing you..._ "But I kid. I wanted to see you, too."

"So Natalie informed me."

A proud smile stretched across his lips. "She told you I've been misbehaving?"

I nodded my head, folding my arms across my chest. "She said you've been upset since I left last week."

Gabe's facial expression returned a look of seriousness that made my body shiver. "I wanted you to stay. I didn't want you to leave."

"I didn't _want_ to leave, but I had my parents to get home to." That was the truth, and I could tell by his body language that he knew it to be true - I hadn't been avoiding him. In all truth, I wanted to figure out our connection, why I could see him, feel him, talk to him, and why I wanted nothing more than to keep him close to me.

Gabe nodded, his eyes searching me as he inched ever-closer. "I thought you weren't going to come back."

He sounded like he thought I'd run away, like he thought I was purposefully avoiding coming over to see him. "I've been sick since I left."

He appeared confused. "But you looked better the second you stepped through the door..."

"I know. It's your home, it's being here, and I think it's - "

" - it's being around me." _Damn, he's good_. He had made a proper deduction, and all I could do is nod and shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know why."

"Everything happens for a reason - I know you don't believe in coincidence. You coming here was - " And there his sentence came to an end, but I could tell by the smile he bore that he was referring to our meeting as destiny, as Fate, and it was far too soon for me to say the same. I had to admit that my abilities, my gift meant something, but _what_? What good could come from a human being drawn to a ghost? What gain could rise from my visiting their home every day just to see him, be near him, because I know I'll grow ill if I don't? Those were the questions that haunted me, even as I stood facing the entity who could eventually prove to be my downfall - and he very easily could.

"Gabe..." I said with a sad shake of my head. "We've only ever spoken once. I don't know a damn thing about you, even though you seem to know a hell of a lot about me and how I think." He smiled proudly once more. "I don't know what's happening - it's too much too quickly - but I'm trusting this blindly."

"Your trust isn't blind. You're trusting me because you know it's the right thing to do."

"Is it?" My question wasn't out of the blue. It was a legitimate argument. _Was_ trusting him the right thing to do?

Gabe's eyes pondered me for a moment before he stepped closer still. This time I could feel the hairs on his arms brush against my hand and I felt a rush like no other. I was right before - to me, he was _solid_. Such a notion was solidified when his fingertips brushed purposefully against mine.

"Laine," his tongue rolled through my name and my eyes tilted up to meet his, "don't be afraid of what you feel. I...I feel it, too."

"What _do_ you feel?" I asked, feeling like I'd crossed too many boundaries.

"I feel heightened. I feel uplifted. I feel more alive with you here than I have since my mom left us. I feel warmth and light and sound with you here...I don't quite know how to explain it yet. It's like...it's like I'm awake once more, and like it was you who did the waking."

With every word I was drawn deeper into the gravitational forces he was pulling around every inch of me.

"I haven't taken a single pill since that day, you know."

Gabe smiled, trailing his fingertips up towards my neck and ghosted over my chin. I felt tingles everywhere his flesh - actual flesh - came in contact with mine. "I'm glad. You don't need them anymore. I'll look after you."

"How? You're dead, Gabe."

"I'll stick around you - I'll go wherever you want me to go."

"You can leave this house?"

"I'll try my damndest."

I bit into my bottom lip. He noticed. "There is something I've been wondering."

"What?" I asked, anxious to know his thoughts.

"I've been wondering what it would be like to kiss you."

I blushed deeply and he chuckled. "Stop wondering." _Where did this impulsion come from? Damn. He's brought out a lot in you already._

Gabe's eyes went wide for a moment before his fingers pressed into the back of my neck and I could feel his muscles contract, bringing my face closer to his. It had been so long since I had been kissed, I didn't know if I even knew how anymore. Did _he_ know how? Did it matter?

Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing I knew about conventional things was relevant anymore. None of it. The only thing I knew was that I was quickly growing attached to a dead boy I knew next to nothing about and that all I wanted was to leave my own home to live at the Goodmans', to be near to Gabe for as long as he wanted me there. Judging by the feelings I received when he placed his lips against mine and we both found ourselves in the middle of a frenzy of mixed emotions, I knew he and I not only had a lot to discuss but we also had a long way to go.


	4. Chapter 4

The feel of Gabe's lips cascading across mine - soft, smooth lips - sent my entire existence into a frenzy. He tasted so divine - like vanilla - which was stranger than strange, given that he shouldn't exist, that he should be kissing me, that he shouldn't have his hands twisted through my hair like they were, that we shouldn't be pressed so closely together.

I pressed my fingers into the back of his scalp, the sensation of his soft, chocolate locks forcing my emotions to bubble over the edge and spill out through a single, gentle moan that escaped my mouth.

Gently, I pushed him back from me, just enough to breathe and really think about what had just happened. Wait...what _had_ happened?

I had just made out with a dead boy...the hell? The darkest part was that he had forced a sound to be emitted, a sound I had never made before.

"What is it?" he whispered, trailing his lips lazily along the outline of my face.

"What is happening?" I managed, biting into my bottom lip fiercely so I couldn't make that sound again, no matter how much I wanted to.

I could feel his lips stretch into a smile as they grazed against my eyelids. "I think it's obvious what's happening, Laine."

"But _how_? I mean, I'm not _complaining_. I just think we need to talk about it."

Gabe's hands locked together at the small of my back so he could pull away and look me in the eyes. "Then let's talk."

"Okay." I took a hold of his arms and pulled them until they were once again in front of me. "I need you to focus first, Gabe." I had his full attention now. "I don't think it's any secret that we both, um, enjoy kissing each other, but I have to know why it even happened in the first place."

"Isn't it obvious...as I said before?"

"Not to me." I tucked my hair behind my ears.

"Well..." Gabe took both of my hands into his. "...it's in the subtext."

I knew exactly what he meant. It was obvious to the both of us that some kind of feelings were being shared between us, but I was extremely uncomfortable with how quickly they were developing. I released his hands and folded my arms tightly across my chest before turning my back and heading into the kitchen. "I must've missed it."

"Don't turn away from this, Laine." His voice was getting closer. I should've known he would follow me into the next room. "Don't shove this to the side - we both know it's meant to be."

"Yes, but _why_ and _how_ is all of this happening in the first place? I'm confused, Gabe. I knew I could feel ghosts, but with you, everything's different. I can feel you, I can touch you - "

"That's quite the understatement." He was teasing, but I knew my face reflected that I was taking this seriously. "Sorry. I don't know why it is that things are different with me. You're special, Laine. I know that's true."

"Oh, please."

"Dammit, Laine." His voice took a new turn, one of sharp precision and my feet stuck to the floor. "You're special. There's something about you that's different, something I _want_. Please don't doubt yourself, and don't let this be something that drives you away."

"That's the thing, Gabe. I _can't_ be away from this house, from _you_. I've been terribly ill since I've been away, so I can't be too far from this house or from you or I'll get ill." Gabe appeared sad for me and stepped closer.

"You were _sick_?"

I nodded. "Without you, yes. I don't know why, but I need to be with you or I'll be sick again."

Gabe nodded slowly, sliding his fingertips up my arm towards my shoulder. "Laine, I'm so sorry. If it's that bad, don't leave me."

"How can I not leave here, Gabe? I have parents at home who need me there. I'm not out of high school yet."

"But you're eighteen, right?" I nodded. "Move out. Get an apartment and I'll...I'll come with you."

My head reeled. What was happening? So much, so quickly... "We need to slow way down, have time to think things over, you know?"

"Feeling sick right now?" He was genuinely concerned for my well-being.

"A little. I'll be alright. It's just...so much to process."

Gabe frowned. "I'm sorry, Laine. You're right. Slowing down might definitely be in order."

The decision to slow down should never have even been in need. It should have already been at a steady pace, so why were things moving so quickly? Surely it hadn't been at my discretion, and especially not at Gabe's - we were thrown into the middle of this storyline and it was going to be the death of me if I wasn't careful.

"I'll back off if you want me to," he suggested after a moment and my eyes snapped up to meet his. No way in _hell_ was this guy going to get away from me, ghost or not.

"No!" I said, taking the lapels of his t-shirt into both of my hands and pulling him closer to me. "Don't do that. Please, Gabe. Just...stay with me, please?"

Gabe nodded, taking my hands from his shirt but keeping them both in his hands. "Come with me." He led me into the living room and sat down onto the couch, tugging me down with him and enveloping me into his broad, phantom arms. "Stay here tonight, Laine."

"And you won't leave me?" I looked up at him, my arms encircling his muscled torso as my chin propped against his shoulder.

He shook his head, placing his lips against my forehead. "I'll stay here with you all night."

"Thank you, Gabe."

"Don't thank me - I _want_ to be here for you. It's detrimental to your health if I'm not, remember?" His free hand gently stroked my hair, his breath reverberating against my forehead as I felt more than safe within his strong arms. It wouldn't be long before I would drift off to sleep, a slumber I'd never known as I had finally found where I belonged...I guess I just hadn't ever pegged that it would be my being asleep within the arms of a dead boy.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Oh, wow. The positive response I'm receiving on this story is incredible - I cannot thank you all enough! That being said, enjoy this next chapter. Only Laine is mine, unfortunately.

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I don't recall when exactly I awoke the next morning, but I suppose the time is irrelevant. What _is_ relevant is where I found myself: wrapped in Gabe's arms just as he had done the previous night.

My eyelids shuttered to the open and locked position, wide and soaking in the view I beheld. I could see what appeared to be muscles pulsating on the side of his neck - he had some sort of pulse, and that gave me chills. Not the pulse part, mind you, but the fact that I could _see_ it.

I trickled my fingertips up the length of his arms, reveling at how strong his grip around me was - it felt possessive, like he wasn't about to let me get away from him and I wasn't one to complain not about that, at least.

Gently, I inched closer to him, inhaling the sweet scent of his skin as I pressed the tip of my nose into the crook of his neck. He had a scent, a pulse, and, hell, I could feel him _breathing_. Was Gabe truly a ghost?

"Good morning," he cooed, ruining my time to enjoy his quiet existence, though I was grateful he was awake.

"Did you sleep?" I asked, already half-knowing the answer.

Gabe turned his eyes down to meet mine and shook his head. "It's more like a hibernation...and I was waiting for you to wake up."

I tucked my hair behind my ears, suddenly realizing I needed a shower. "I look like shit. I need to take a shower."

He nodded his head towards a door off the kitchen. "There's a full bath in there, though I think you look great."

I felt a familiar blush creep up into the apples of my cheeks. "Flattery will get you everywhere." I smiled.

Gabe smirked. "That was exactly my plan, actually." We shared a giggle before he leaned towards me, attempting to kiss me.

I pulled away and shook my head, covering my mouth with my free hand. "Not until I've brushed my teeth." The hell happened to taking things slowly?

"Laine, I'm not here. Does it really matter?"

_It does to me_. I nodded softly, forgetting yet again that he wasn't a real existence. This boy's presence certainly had a way of making me lose touch with reality.

"You're _real_ to me, Gabe," I said with a shrug. "It's hard for me to remember that you're in the Twilight Zone while I'm stuck in hell."

"Correction," he began. "It would seem like we're _both _trapped in the Twilight Zone."

_Damn him for being right all the fucking time_.

I nodded, wiggling myself out of his arms but keeping a grip on his hands. "I need to shower."

"Want me to come with you?" He stood, his eyes boring into mine, and I knew he wasn't joking. He actually wanted to be with me while I showered.

I could feel the heat of my blood pounding into my beet-red cheeks. Everything in me screamed to say a resounding yes, but then there was Jiminy Cricket. I hated that little fucker sometimes, and right at that moment especially. "You know I want you there...but we can't. Taking things slowly, remember?"

Gabe nodded after a moment, his hands moving up to cup my face before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. "Have a good shower."

And did I have a good shower? Hell to the no. All I thought about was how much I wanted the water dripping down my body to be his hands searching me passionately, about how much I wanted him to be intimate and close with me, something I had never before wanted out of another being, human and ghost alike.

And was the boy I heatedly fantasized about really Gabriel Goodman? He had died almost seventeen years ago and hadn't really gotten the chance to become a person, develop a personality, or fall in love as many humans do each day. He was robbed of all of that and yet I was in love with what he was to me now - a ghost locked in this plane, a palpable spirit of feelings and passion and heat who had stolen my heart before I had even set foot into his domain.

As much as I had always told Natalie that I didn't give a flying fuck what other people thought of me, the truth was that I didn't know the real truth or how much I wanted it until I found the person that made me want it. That person, decidedly, was Gabe.

I dried myself off and towel-dried my hair before I left the bathroom. I draped the towel over a chair at their breakfast table before opening the fridge to find myself something to eat for breakfast. Never had really enjoyed breakfast, but if I didn't eat something to calm the maelstrom of irrational feelings swirling around inside of my queasy stomach, I would regret it before third period.

"You smell fabulous," Gabe's cool voice chilled down my neck as he stood behind me. _He's so incredibly needy...why is that so fucking attractive?_ "Have a good shower?"

I turned to face him, shaking my head as I attempted to hide my more-than-obvious lust for him. "No, actually, I didn't. Kept thinking about you, about us."

"And?"

That simple word opened up a universe of possible answers for everything. "I don't know, Gabe. I want everything, even though I know I can't have it all."

"Why can't you?"

And that's when it happened. That's when my inhibitions shattered. Everything that had held me back from giving my heart to this phantom was gone. I wanted to be his for the taking, so I _would_ be.

I moved and, after placing my hands on either side of his face and pulling him closer to me, I kissed him hard.

Gabe responded after a moment and I could feel his hands wrap around my torso, bringing me closer as he pushed his hips against mine. His lips slid smoothly across my own and I could feel my body entering some sort of happiness I hadn't experienced before this boy. I believe the feeling is called bliss.

"Gabe," I said gently into his mouth when I surfaced for air, "I don't want to fight this."

"You shouldn't have to."

"...so I _won't_."

Gabe pulled away a bit, his eyes expressing shock. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying..." I paused, smiling up at him. "...I'm saying I'm yours."

Gabe smiled brightly, letting loose a kind of laugh that let me know how relieved he was to hear me say that. "You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that."

"_You_ have no idea how much I wanted to _say_ it." I laughed and as I did, I could feel his muscles melt beneath my touch as I had melted in his so many times before.

"Laine," he breathed against my neck before lazily trailing kisses up towards my earlobes.

"Yes?"

"You're going to be late for school."

Wide-eyed and laughing softly, I pulled away from him and dashed to grab my things before darting out the door. I felt better in that moment than I had ever felt in my entire life and I was not about to let go of that feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** As always, enjoy! Laine is mine. Reviews are much-appreciated!

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As the distance between myself and the Goodman residence stretched, I felt differently than I had felt the last time I left them - this time was freer, like there were no more expectations, only reality. I had Gabe to thank for that.

I wanted nothing more than to have him with me always, to grow old with his ghost as my only needed companion. _Grow old with a ghost? What are you saying? Do you even know what it will do to you that you will age and he won't?_

That thought hadn't occurred to me an, at the moment, it still wasn't enough to phase me. Not when I was feeling - what's the word for it? - _elated_.

When I entered the school building that morning, I felt invincible, a feeling I hadn't felt in years. I spent the day vicodin-free with a smile on my face and a spring in my step I couldn't properly identify if someone asked me to.

Natalie took such notice and after lunch, she followed me to my locker.

"How many vicodin are you on today, Laine?" she asked, a slightly accusing tone hinted in her voice.

I turned to face her. "I haven't taken any in a long time and especially not today," I answered, tucking my English textbook under my arm before we started off to the next class.

"Something's up. I haven't ever seen you this happy."

"So something must be wrong with me?"

"Naturally." She was only half-kidding, a fact I snorted at. "Laine, it's no secret to anyone you're kind of a downer and today you're just, well, _not_ a downer. What happened?"

"I don't think you'd like the answer to that."

Natalie stopped just outside the classroom, tugging on my arm to pull me back to her. "Tell me."

I sighed. "Your brother is what happened." When she widened her eyes, I continued. "I spent the night on your couch last night. He held me and we talked."

"Is that code?"

"No, we actually talked."

Natalie nodded, clearly in some kind of maelstrom of thoughts. "So he's what is making you so happy?" When I didn't answer, she reached some kind of clarity. "Then don't be without him."

Old Natalie, as in the Natalie-before-her-mother-went-AWOL-after-attempti ng-suicide would never have given me the go-ahead to keep hanging around the phantom of her dead brother, but this Natalie was different. This Natalie _knew_. This Natalie _understood_.

"You're...you're not angry with me or creeped out?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.

Natalie shook her head. "I want you happy and I know Gabe can't be without you, so just...don't let him be. If that means you need to stay at my place or get your own place or take Gabe with you, you have my support."

I wanted to cry. Everything I had ever needed was falling into place. I embraced her before the bell dinged and we were rushed into class once again.

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"So how are you going to keep him around?" Natalie asked me on our walk home. She was walking me to my house before turning off to go to her own.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. There are so many ideas. I think the best one may be to get my own place once we've graduated, that way he can come with me."

"Are you gonna try and take him home with you until then?"

"I don't know how my mother will respond to the news that I'll be getting my own place...maybe I need an apartment now."

"But what would you do with the apartment once we've graduated? We still have college."

_Dammit, she's right_. "What do you think, Nat?"

Natalie remained quiet for a few moments. "Keeping my brother with you at home is risky, but until we're ready for college, I think that might be best. Has he said anything - I mean, has he mentioned if he's able to be moved?"

I nodded. "He's already expressed the need to follow me home."

"The _need_?"

"Yeah. He's very clingy."

Natalie snickered. "So is Henry, but I guess it's different with the living."

_...with the living..._

Why was it so taunting whenever anyone besides myself mentioned that Gabe was deceased? If it had just been myself, there would be nothing to question - I had fallen for the ghost boy, regardless of his lack of a pulse.

"I don't want to do this..." I said as we approached my driveway.

"Just be confident and honest. It's going to happen, so make sure they know that." Natalie gripped my shoulder tightly.

I nodded. She was right. Confidence was key.

"I can do this." _Like the Little Engine That Could...but with paranormal-boy instead of a mountain_.

"Good luck. If you need anything, you know where I am - and where _he_ is."

I gave her a quick hug before heading into my house, bracing myself.

_Showtime. Let 'er rip._

"I'm home!" I called out, hanging my jacket on the coat rack by the door before going directly upstairs. With the mini-fridge in my room, I hardly needed to spend any unnecessary time around my family.

"What's been going on with you?" was my mother's instant accusation as she exited her bedroom and met me at the top of the stairs. "You've been distant."

"I'm eighteen, Mom. If I'm _not_ distant, I'm wrong."

She pursed her already tight lips and shook her head gently. "Have you met some boy we don't know about yet?"

"What if I have?"

That shut her up momentarily. "Who is he?"

"He's dead if you have to know."

"I don't believe it."

"I'm not asking you to." I stepped into my room and held the door, ready to close it once our conversation concluding. "I'm getting my own place after graduation."

Mom's mouth dropped wide open. "You're doing no such thing."

"Too late. I've already been looking for an apartment." _Well...you're not lying entirely._

"What has gotten into you lately, Laine? Who _are_ you anymore?"

"I'm growing up and if you'd given a shit five years ago, I might not want to be so fucking far away from you!"

"Don't raise your voice to me!"

"I'm upset - how else am I _supposed_ to sound?!"

"You're not moving out after graduation!"

"Too late." I closed the door and swiftly locked it behind me, proceeding to head over to my nightstand and grab my trusty earplugs. With them, I drowned out the sound of my mother's torrid screams, all phrases she had told me a hundred thousand times a piece. I didn't want to hear it and I couldn't hear her anyway, not over the thoughts of Gabe I was having, of the night I had spent in his arms.

Soon enough, every night would be like that. Goodbye to nights alone - I had been found.


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